Long before I arrived in the United States in 1997 on political asylum, I’d heard the apocryphal story of the visiting African who was asked by an American whether it was “true that Africans live on trees?” The well-educated and well-spoken African responded: “Yes, it is true, and the U.S. Embassy...

By the end of the year, more than 201 million people will be unemployed globally—around 3.4 million more than in 2016. The unemployed, often pushed to the margins of society, face barriers to long-term success, which can contribute to hunger and poverty. In turn, those conditions can fuel nationalism,...

As the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is observed on Wednesday, it will celebrate the achievements of advocates, leaders and native nations whose efforts helped indigenous peoples become a permanent part of the international community and underscore the importance of their...

The recent emergence of famine in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen that has left more than 20 million people on the brink of starvation is a reminder of the difficulty of ending hunger around the world. The problem is complex, and, unfortunately, policymakers have largely ignored an economic...

Mankind has successfully managed to eradicate only two diseases to date: smallpox in humans followed by the deadly cattle plague, rinderpest. These medical achievements have saved millions of lives and billions of dollars in economic losses, especially in the developing world. But the next victory...

Sekesai Hwiza, an 82-year-old Zimbabwean grandmother, spends most mornings sitting on a park bench talking to people who are emotionally broken by the stresses of life. She has met with more than 2,000 people in her community over the last three years, most of them young people who are depressed...

The Lake Chad basin in Nigeria is on the brink of famine. For seven years, Boko Haram insurgents have descended on communities, driving people from their homes and killing thousands. The level of destruction is breathtaking. But more shocking is the vulnerable position survivors are in now. There...

In 1988, my family traveled from America to India to visit the homeland of my birth. At age 11, I vividly remember seeing beggars crippled by polio, crawling on the ground. I remember them staring at me. I, too, have polio, but I am able to walk with leg braces and crutches. I contracted polio...

They camp on muddy corners, beside an abandoned mosque and in the rain-soaked ruins of a soccer stadium — families displaced by ongoing fighting in Mosul are filling emergency camps in this smaller city about 20 miles south. Disabled boys arrived in wheelchairs one day last week, and elderly men...

The Trump administration has indicated it plans to take the federal government’s Countering Violent Extremism program in a new direction. Media outlets report that it might be renamed the “Countering Islamic Extremism” program, or "Countering Radical Islamic Extremism.” The current program, which...

Around the world, some 1.5 million children die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases. The problem? Most vaccines are imported from developed nations, making them unaffordable for those who need them most in developing nations. And vaccine shortages that threaten polio eradication goals in...

With early optimism surrounding the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change now fading into anxiety over potential changes to U.S. environmental policy under a Trump administration, many are looking for new leaders in the fight against global warming. Hospitals should step into the breach. Doing...

A year ago, masses of people fleeing conflict in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan began to stream through the western Balkans on their way to northern Europe. Like anyone following the news closely, I was deeply moved by the chaotic scenes of crowded fields and train stations. A year on, these images...

Liberia, the first African country to declare itself a republic and one of three African nations to take part in the establishment and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, is on the brink of its own landmark achievement in human rights. Internal peace and security is within...

It has been 44 years since a World Bank president traveled to drought-stricken Upper Volta in West Africa — today called Burkina Faso — and encountered a startling and disturbing scene. Blind people were everywhere, with children often leading adults around. The cause of their blindness was a tiny...

Investing in female entrepreneurs is not just about checking off a box on gender equality. It is about facilitating significant global economic gains by investing in an underserved and underrepresented talent pool. Women’s participation in the global economy is fundamental to sustained economic...

In Sacramento, an opportunity is pending that could make a huge difference to achieving climate stability and sustainable development goals on a global scale. California could take the lead in demonstrating an innovative approach to reducing tropical deforestation. And the benefits would accrue...

Climate change has condensed the cycles of devastating drought, and agriculture across Africa and the world is feeling the heat. Lack of rain in southern Africa delayed this year’s planting season by up to two months. Planted areas have shrunk, crops have wilted and food production in South Africa...

There are more refugees and displaced people today, driven from their home by war, persecution, poverty, and climate change, than at any time since World War II. In America, perhaps, it is the Syrian refugee crisis that earns the most attention. But there is another crisis which also speaks deeply...